We need you
by Pyroette
Summary: Fun little ficlet, inspired by vibes between Hermione and the twins in the latest movie. The twins think they just might need Hermione's help with their schemes.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I'm not the only one who caught the vibe between Hermione and the Weasley twins during the GoF movie, was I? Good. That's why I wrote this. I don't know if I want to continue this, and if I do, if I should take it seriously or make a parody out of it. In any case, let me know what you think, good or bad. I'm all for concrit.

Disclaimer: I don't make any claim to Harry Potter or anything associated with it. Not being JK Rowling and all

* * *

Hermione was alone in the common room when Fred and George returned from the Hospital Wing after the hours spent there, reversing the ill effects of their experiment and resulting fight. She was sitting at one of the tables near the fireplace, nose in the books open in front of her as always, but she looked up as they came in and rolled her eyes at their proud grins as they came through the portrait hole.

Seeing she was the only person left to witness their triumphant return, the twins made a beeline for the table she had taken over and sat down, one on each side of her. She staunchly tried to continue concentrating on her study material, but they wouldn't let her.

"Alright, so the aging potion didn't work as we had hoped," Fred, or was it George, admitted on her right. Hermione roller her eyes again.

"Well that much is obvious," she retorted, trying once again to return to her studying, but the twin to her left reached over and flicked the book directly in front of her shut. Hermione's head snapped up and she glared at the offending party, who merely grinned back at her.

"You see, we've decided something," George, it must be George; there was the freckle beside his right eye Ginny had pointed out, told her.

"We think we may be lacking an integral part of our experiment planning and execution," Fred continued for his brother.

"Other than common sense or a respect for any rules, I assume," Hermione added dryly.

"Naturally," George continued, leaning disturbingly close, and placing one of his large hands a bit higher on her leg than she would normally be comfortable with. Her breathing quickened even more when Fred mirrored his brother's actions on her other side.

In unison, with one speaking in each ear so it sounded like they were everywhere, they whispered, "We need you."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thanks you all who read, and especially those who reviewed. I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one who finds something about these guys intresting. I know this is short, I usually like to write longer chapters, but I wanted to update tonight, for some reason. Which do you prefer, short frequent updates or longer chapters with a longer wait?

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

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The next morning Hermione couldn't stop thinking about what happened with the twins the night before, couldn't stop thinking about what they had said. Well, not what they had said, but how they had said it. She would have thought, if they were trying to say they needed her specifically, that they would have put the emphasis on "you". But instead, they had said "We _need_ you," and the range of possible implications of that simple fact had her reeling, which was problematic when she was supposed to be making a fairly complex potion.

As luck would have it, she was partnered with Neville Longbottom, who started to shake violently every time Professor Snape was near, and his nervousness combined with Hermione's preoccupation nearly resulted in a ruined potion. She was able to fish out most of the faerie wings Neville had added before powdering them, and in the end the pale periwinkle liquid was a little more opaque than the guidelines had specified, but it was still passable. Professor Snape looked up at her in surprise when she set the slightly cloudy vial on his desk, but Hermione let her face remain blank until she turned away, and she blushed furiously. She hated turning in poor quality work.

Neville met her at the door and apologized profusely for his poor performance in class, but Hermione shook her head. "You did fine, Neville. You know its just Snape making you nervous," she said, comforting him. "And I knew it and wasn't paying attention, which is my fault." Neville smiled his thanks, and continued to walk to his class.

She didn't hear him approach, so she was startled when a tall boy slung his arm around her shoulders. Hermione looked up to see one of the boys who had been on her mind all day, though she couldn't tell which one from the angle she had. "Tut tut, fouling up your potions doesn't sound like the Hermione I know," he joked, his voice low so only she could hear.

"What, are you thinking of holding your offer pending my marks?" she returned, grinning up at him. He slowed his steps and steered her right to another hallway, one less crowded with students trying to get to their next class. "My marks won't improve if you make me skip class!" Hermione objected, but didn't pull away from him.

"Not to worry, love, you'll get to class," he assured her, and turned her around into a little alcove in the hall. "You might be a bit late, but you'll get there."

"Fred!" Hermione playfully chided him, now able to see his whole face and identify which of the brothers she was talking to. He grinned, but said nothing to her, just stood in front of her, gazing at her face. "Well…what is it you wanted?" she asked finally.

"Oh, nothing, just testing your willingness to be led off with no explanation when you have other places to be," he answered cheekily. Hermione hit him playfully and walked off in mock outrage, only mildly annoyed that he would feel the need to test this considering all she and his younger brother had been through with Harry.

Fred caught her before she reached a more populated area, and spun her around to face him. "Can't blame a guy for trying to get a bit of time alone with you, now can you?" he asked, as he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Thanks for playing along," he murmured in her ear, before he walked off, presumably to go about his own business.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Wow! Thanks so much to all my reviewers! You make me feel all special...Anyway, sorry for no update yesterday, I had to work. But I wrote two tonight, so hopefully I won't fall behind again with that little buffer. This is the strangest story, for me, cause usually when I write a chapter its upwards of 1500 words. This story won't even let me write half that. Silly stories that get away with me. Anyway, enough author babble, on to the next chapter.

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After about the fifteenth time she did it, Ron finally asked Hermione why she touching her right cheek. She blushed furiously, looked down, and said something about an itch and about putting some lotion on it later. George sent a questioning look to his twin, who winked in reply. Both brothers grinned at Hermione, who tried to ignore them, with little success.

After the meal was finished, rather quickly and quietly on Hermione's part, Harry, Ron and Ginny expressed their intention of enjoying an Exploding Snap mini tournament in the common room. Hermione begged off, explaining that she wanted to study in the library for a few more hours. Her friends bemoaned her need to study when term had just started, but she smiled, leaving them no recourse except to roll their eyes, knowing she would never give up a chance to broaden her mind.

She waved goodbye to the small group as she left the Hall, and made her way up to the library, blissfully unaware of the boy who followed her until he grabbed her arm and spun her into one of those pesky little alcoves that littered the halls. He stood directly in front of her, so no one in the hall could see her, and she looked up at George, annoyance in her eyes.

"Your brother's already tested my ability to be fooled into wasting time with no reason, so if you don't mind, I'd like to take another look at the potion we were making in class today," she said, irritated.

"Did Fred get to you earlier, Hermione dear?" George asked, ignoring her request for release. She was startled by his question, and she sputtered a bit before asking him to repeat himself. "You seemed rather distracted," he said, stroking the back of his hand lightly over her cheek, "and I was just wondering if he had said or done something to…upset you."

"N-no, he didn't do anything to upset me," she replied hastily. George grinned, knowing he had caught her, and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so you liked it when he kissed you, then?" he asked innocently, brushing her cheek again. She opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say; denying it would be a lie, but she didn't want them to think they could go around kissing her because she didn't find it repulsive. She just didn't like the twins that way, they were fun to spend time with, but they were Ron's older brothers, and that alone was enough to keep her from ever developing any feelings of a romantic nature in their direction. Not that she hadn't admired them, they were good looking boys, and she was only human after all, and she obviously had a thing for red hair, judging from the crush she'd had on Ron for ages…. George watched with amusement as all these thoughts crossed her mind as she tried to come up with something witty to retort with. "Hermione Granger, speechless, who ever thought it would happen? I'll have to tell Fred even mentioning his kiss left you without words," he joked.

Hermione gaped at him again, stammering her objection. "Don't you dare, George Weasley!" She tried to push him out of the way so she could finally make it to the library as she had planned.

"Now hold in a minute," he protested, stopping her. "I'm not going to let you get away without a kiss from me, too." Before she could stop him, his mouth swooped down and pressed, not against her cheek as his brothers had, but high on her neck, on the sensitive spot right beneath her ear. Hermione shivered unconsciously, which again made George smile. He raised the arm he had been using to block her path and let her pass, which she did as quickly as she could, glancing back at him once as she walked briskly toward her favourite room in the castle.

George stood, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, watching her walk away, knowing they had her right where they wanted her.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Thank you again to everyone who has read and especially those who reviewed. You don't know how much it makes my day to know people are enjoying this. And thank you also to those who read and didn't like and did not feel the need to tear me a new one for writing so poorly. Anyway, on with the show:

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

* * *

The twins took a break from their pursuit of Hermione the next day, a fact she was quite grateful for after the choosing of the Triwizard Champions that evening. She had enough to deal with, trying to calm Harry down and listening to Ron rant about bad friends who kept secrets and lied. She was still exhausted the next morning at the breakfast table. Ron and Harry weren't speaking to each other, and Hermione was too tired to try and hold up a conversation for three people, so they ate silently, the air around them almost sombre. 

"Why the long faces?" Fred and George asked in unison as they sat down on either side of the table. "C'mon, man, you're a Triwizard champion! It can't be as bad as all that," Fred said, giving Harry a congratulatory pat on the back. Harry sighed and stood up, leaving his breakfast as he exited the Great Hall. "What's wrong with him?" Fred asked with a thumb pointed at the back of the departing boy. Hermione shrugged and poked at the eggs on her plate.

"Still wish he'd tell us how he did it," George commented, picking up a piece of toast and munching on it. "Can't have been an aging potion, we knows those won't fool it."

"Well, we know _your_ potion didn't fool it," Hermione pointed out, finding the energy to tease the twins a bit about their disastrous attempt. "Perhaps a good one could."

"It wasn't an aging potion," Fred said in finality. "D'you think Harry could have cast a spell strong enough to confound it?" Ron finally got tired of hearing about the subject, and he too got up from the table and left. George and Fred looked confused, but shrugged at each other, not really caring why their brother left if it gave them a chance for a nice talk with Hermione.

The girl in question was still staring blankly at the dish of hash browns in front of her. George finally waved one of his hands in front of her face to get her attention. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Sorry, was I off in space?" she apologized.

"Yeah, I'll say," Fred remarked. "You feeling okay?"

"Mm hmm," she murmured. "Just tired."

"Well, you could always skive off class just this once and go catch up on your sleep," George suggested. The look Hermione gave him assured him that her answer was in the negative, as he had suspected. "Well then, meet us during your free period this afternoon."

"But I don't have a free period this afternoon," she protested.

"Oh, poor Professor Vector is going to come down with a bad case of forgetting how to count this afternoon, so of course he'll have to cancel class until Madame Pomfrey can sort him out," Fred assured her.

Hermione looked at them suspiciously. "What are you going to do to Professor Vector?" she asked.

"Nothing too bad, just have to try out these new joke candies on someone other than ourselves," George assured her. "It's a good thing we don't take Arithmancy, or we'd have done quite poorly last week."

"You can't think I approve of this kind of thing being done so I can have a free period?" she returned.

"Don't worry, we're not doing it for you," Fred answered. "Lee is in the class before yours, we're doing it for him." The twins wore matching grins, and they looked so eager she didn't have the heart to scold them any more.

"So what exactly is it you want to do during my free period this afternoon?" she queried.

"We were thinking we could have some _fun_ out by the lake," George told her, but the way he said it had her narrowing her gaze at him.

"If you think you can get me out there and do…things with me, then you're sadly mistaken," she told him.

"Why Hermione, I think you have a dirty mind!" Fred admonished her. "We have the most honourable of intentions."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I am so sorry for the long absence. Finals came, and Christmas and then a lack of inspiration. But, I am back in a creative mood, so hopefully will start writing again. Can't promise an update every day, but more is forthcoming. So, thank you for reading, and sticking with me. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

* * *

Sure enough, Hermione got work that Professor Vector had some kind of accident and all the afternoon Arithmancy classes were cancelled. Whether she forgot the Weasley twin's request, or she was purposefully avoiding them, she went to her usual table in the library during her free time. The Durmstrang champion was there, sitting near her as he had the past few days. As before, he sat reading, watching her over the top of his book. She tried to put his attention out of her mind, musing that she was getting a lot of practice, but the gaggle of girls who followed her admirer came into the room and broke her concentration. She was about to despair of ever getting any work done when he hopes were completely dashed by the arrival of a certain pair of redheads.

"Told you she'd be here," they said to each other. They sat, one on either side of her, though there wasn't really room for them.

"Thought you were going to come pass the afternoon with us," Fred said, feigning emotional distress.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot," she murmured in return, trying to keep her voice down to stay on Madam Pince's good side.

"Hurt our feelings," George pouted dramatically.

"I just forgot, I didn't mean it," she insisted, trying to keep them from making a scene.

"Well, come on then," they cajoled her. George finally noticed Viktor Krum's particular attention to Hermione, and pointed it out to Fred. The mischievous looks that crossed their faces had her a little bit worried.

"Okay, let's go!" she said suddenly, trying to keep them from doing anything along the lines of what they usually did in this kind of situation. She walked quickly out of the library, her arms loaded with the books she always seemed to be carrying. George took them as he walked up beside her, passing half of them across her to Fred.

"How does a little thing like you carry these around all the time?" Fred groaned, looking at the books he carried.

"Maybe there's more to her than meets the eye," George suggested with a wink. Hermione sighed and led the way back to the common room, where the twins gave her back her books to take up to her room. "You think she'll come back down?" George asked his brother.

"Sure she will. She'd better, if she doesn't want us to try and improvise a way to get past the wards," Fred responded. Neither boy took his eyes off the stairway, though, until Hermione reappeared.

"So what is it you boys have in mind for this afternoon?" she asked brightly, surprising the boys at her sudden willingness to go along with their plans. Hermione was surprised at herself as well, but some feeling told her it was better to go ahead with them then try to stop them. She wouldn't want to see what they would do to get their way.

"Oh, nothing much," Fred said innocently.

"Just a bit of planning, really," George added.

"Why do I have a feeling you're not planning your study schedule for the year?" Hermione questioned.

"Who plans their studying, other than Ravenclaws?" George quipped, earning himself an elbow in the gut from his brother.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Besides me?" she asked pointedly.

"Well, you're a special case," George added, clutching his stomach and trying to breathe normally again.

Hermione smiled as they continued down to the lake and found a nice spot to sit on the still green grass, all three lined up with their backs against one of the craggy rocks the dotted the landscape. "What is it you have in mind?" she finally asked, once they were comfortable.

"We need your input," Fred opened. When Hermione didn't immediately object on principle, he continued. "We know you're always helping Harry and Ron with these kinds of things and everyone says that you're the cleverest witch around, so we thought you might help us with our little…project."

"For one, I only help Harry and Ron because they'd try to do it themselves if I didn't, and probably end up killing themselves. And second, I'm not the cleverest, there's Ravenclaw seventh years that've been at this longer than I have. Now, what kind project are you talking about?" she finally asked.

"Well, that's the other thing," George added. "We can't exactly tell you what it is."

Hermione gave each of them a sceptical look in turn. "You expect me to help you with this, and not tell me what you're doing?"

"We're just not sure how it will turn out, and we don't want to get you in any trouble, if we can help it," Fred explained.

"So, really, we're looking out for you," supplied George.

Hermione rolled her eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Hey, I'm glad people are glad that I'm writing agian! Just makes me want to write more. I do need peoples opinions on one matter: as per usual with my stories, this one is leading to lots of kissing and more 'adult' situations. Not porn, but very suggestive. Should I change the rating of this one, and keep going, or try and write a K rated romance story and post the other version on my own site? Again, thanks for your reviews, and your opinions. Enjoy

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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"You can't be serious," Hermione asked. "You want me to help you with something, some project you know is against the rules, and you won't tell me what it is?"

"It's for your own good!" Fred offered. The look she gave him could have curdled milk.

"It's nothing technically illegal or dangerous," George assured her. "We just need your help with a bit of reconnaissance."

Hermione looked suspicious. "What kind of information do you need gathered?"

"The useful type," Fred quipped. This earned him another glare from Hermione. "It's nothing bad, we promise."

"Then why can't you get it yourself?" she retorted.

"You're just in a better position to acquire the information we require," George explained with a grin. He leaned back and placed an arm around her shoulders. "You have connections, my dear."

She scoffed, "I have Harry and Ron, you can get any thing you need out of them." Suddenly a horrible thought occurred to her. "You're not asking me to tell you about the other girls in my dorm, are you?" she pleaded.

"Aww, she's jealous," Fred teased.

"Am not!" Hermione objected.

"I think you are," Fred countered. "Don't you think that she sounded jealous, George?"

"She did indeed, Fred. Quite jealous," George agreed.

"I'm not jealous!" Hermione protested. "What would I have to be jealous about?"

"It's alright, luv," George assured her, squeezing her tight with the arm at her back, batting his eyes at her. "You don't need to worry; we only have eyes for you."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, mock pouting. "You're ridiculous," she told them.

"Might be we are," Fred said with a smile. "But it's not your roommates we're interested in. Most of their lives are public knowledge, anyway."

Hermione knew it was true. "So, what do you need me for?" she asked.

"Well, it might sound strange, what we ask you for. We need you to get…closer. To Krum," George explained.

"You want me to get closer to Harry's opponent?" Hermione gasper, shocked. "What kind of information are you going for?" Her expression changed from shocked to puzzled. "Why would I have better access to Krum than any of you? I'm still another Hogwarts student."

"C'mon, Hermione, you know he follows you around like a puppy dog," Fred admonished.

"Some people enjoy the library as much as I do, you know," she protested, though she was beginning to see what they were talking about. She was in the best position to get information out of Krum, for whatever reason. But she wasn't going to let them know that.

"Have you ever seen him actually reading?" George asked. When Hermione didn't answer, he grinned. "He spends the whole time watching you, or trying to avoid his fan club. I think you could really help us out here."

"Well, what exactly do you want me to ask him?" she queried. "I don't think he'd tell me about his secret Quidditch moves, of the location of Durmstrang."

"Oh, nothing like that," Fred said. "We just want to know how he's feeling, if he's nervous...,"

"If he knows what the tasks are and how he plans to handle them," George cut in.

"You-you want to know how he feels?" Hermione was completely perplexed.

"Well, not all the time. Just around the tasks," George added.

The pieces began to fall together in Hermione's mind. Her eyes snapped open wider when she figured it out. "You two are running a book! You're taking bets on the Tri-Wizard Tournament!" she accused.

"See, I told you she'd figure it out," Fred sulked.

"You're too smart for us, luv," George said, his mouth close to her ear, making her shiver in an unfamiliar way. She shook off the sensation and stood, turning to face them.

"I can't believe you're going to be betting on the champions! You're going to be taking bets on if Harry lives or dies!" she shouted.

"Well, just on whether or not he succeeds, really," George corrected. "Its nothing that isn't going on outside Hogwarts, we just want a little of the action ourselves."

"And we figure we have the best chance of setting odds accurately," Fred stated.

Hermione looked from one twin to the other, not believing what she was hearing. But as she thought about it, it didn't seem so bad. All she would be doing would be helping them to set odds. While not exactly fair, it was hardly illegal, since none of the champions would be involved. And something about the way the presented themselves, the gleam in their eyes and the smiles they beamed at her… "I'll do it," she declared.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Again, sorry for the delay. I promise this isn't as weird as it seems :) Enjoy

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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"Aww, come on, Hermione, at least think about it…" Fred's protest dies on his lips. "Wait, did you just say you'd…you'll do it?"

George gaped at her. "But, why? It's sneaky and unfair and might very well get you in trouble!" he pointed out. Fred leaned over and smacked his twin upside the head.

"Quiet, do you want her to change her mind?" he growled.

"Yes, George, do you want me to change my mind?" she echoed.

"Sorry," George mumbled. "I'm just surprised is all."

"Well, so am I, actually," Hermione confessed. "But I've said I'll do it, and so I will." She sat back down, facing them this time, and trying to sit in as lady like a position as possible when on the ground in a skirt. "So, if I'm taking care of Krum, what are your plans for the other champions?"

If the twins were at all surprised by her jumping into their scheme head first, they didn't show it. "Well, Harry's covered, but I suppose you can help with more details there, as he'll probably ask you for help with preparation," George said.

"We have contacts in Hufflepuff who can keep an eye on Cedric for us," Fred added. "They don't mind helping out since there's no Quidditch to get in the way of our motives."

"What about the veela girl, Delacour?" Hermione questioned.

"She seems to be keeping to her schoolmates at the moment, unfortunately, so we are still waiting for an opportunity to present itself," Fred answered. "We just got lucky that Krum showed interest in you. Dunno what we would have done if he'd fancied someone else."

"I'll see what I can come up with for Frenchie," Hermione assured them with a nod.

The continued their discussion of odds setting and betting practices past the class bell and it was almost supper time when Hermione finally stood and rushed back toward the castle. She bid the twins a hasty goodbye and bushed the dirt off her skirt as she walked, when she heard her name called behind her.

"Hermione, wait up," one of the twins called, jogging to catch up with her. She slowed and let him, looking at him curiously. She couldn't tell which one it was, the light was all wrong for her usual tricks. "You forgot this," he said, handing her the jumper she had taken off in the warm afternoon sun.

"Thank you," she said, taking it from him. Their hands brushed, and she gasped at the contact, pulling away and smiling shyly at him.

Unexpectedly, he leaned in and kissed her, pressing his mouth to hers for a few brief moments before pulling away and smiling back at her softly. "You didn't really think you'd get away spending an afternoon at the lake without _something_ of impure intentions happening, did you?" he joked, jogging away to reach the castle, leaving her standing there, shocked.

The only thing running through Hermione's head was the question of which Weasley twin had just kissed her.


End file.
